The Supreme Court has set an aggressive timeline for deciding whether the law banning or divesting TikTok should stand.
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Today, the Supreme Court agreed to listen to TikTok’s case against the law passed in April that requires its Chinese parent company to sell the corporate or ban it within the United States.
In an unconventional way command This shocked insiders in Washington. The court scheduled oral arguments within the case just weeks away – on January 10 – and ordered the parties to present their arguments on an accelerated schedule over the Christmas and New Year holidays. The timing suggests the court may plan to rule on the law’s constitutionality, or at the least whether it needs to be suspended, before a ban takes effect on Jan. 19.
The Supreme Court’s order shows that it was not persuaded by one among TikTok’s principal arguments – namely that the court should wait to see what recent President Trump thinks in regards to the law before allowing it to take effect. By scheduling oral arguments for January 10 and requiring the parties to debate the case by then, the court has also ensured that the law will probably be defended by the Biden DOJ, which helped draft the law, and never from Trump’s DOJ about what the president-elect could do to deal with it.
The Supreme Court’s decision within the TikTok case is prone to have lasting impacts on each First Amendment jurisprudence and the long run regulation of other foreign corporations, each in technology and beyond. Earlier this month, the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against TikTok in a novel interpretation of First Amendment law, concluding that the law actually protected Americans’ free speech whilst it limited it since it was intended to to guard the data ecosystem from foreign intervention. If the court upholds the TikTok law, ByteDance could have to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company or exit the US market entirely. Other ByteDance apps, including the photo editing app CapCut, the social platform Lemon8 and the homework help app Gauth, would also need to be sold or discontinued within the USA
If the law is upheld, President Trump should have the chance to “save” the app by bringing it back online after a ban goes into effect – but that move would only be temporary. The law gives the president the appropriate to grant ByteDance a one-time three-month extension to finish a sale of TikTok. Although ByteDance has said it’s going to not and can’t sell, Trump could still grant ByteDance an extension on his first day in office, possibly just hours after banning the app within the US. President Biden could also grant this extension before he leaves office. which might deny Trump the power to grant a second one during his term.
Still, the Supreme Court could strike down the law with a ruling that will allow ByteDance to proceed operating TikTok indefinitely. Michael Hughes, a spokesman for the corporate, said in a press release: “We are pleased with the Supreme Court’s order today. We believe the court will declare the TikTok ban unconstitutional so that the over 170 million Americans on our platform can continue to exercise their right to free speech.”
